Cleveland Browns Instant Reactions: Baker Mayfield era begins
By Randy Gurzi
1. Hue was wrong in how he handled Baker and Tyrod
When the Browns traded for Tyrod Taylor and then drafted Baker Mayfield, he made a huge mistake. He named Taylor the starter and said Mayfield would sit. Then he never gave Mayfield a chance to win the job.
The reason this was wrong was because Taylor was handed the job despite never taking a snap in the offense that Jackson or offensive coordinator Todd Haley run. So they weren’t giving the job to an established veteran in their system, but a guy who simply had starting experience. Doing so held the team back as Taylor simply is a bad fit for this offense and held back some playmakers.
One example of this came early in the game when he underthrew Antonio Callaway in the end zone. Yes, there likely should have been a pass interference, but the ball should have been put in a better spot and it would have been six. Another example came later in the first half when Callaway again beat his defender and was streaking for six. Taylor badly underthrew him and then got upset that Callaway didn’t come back to the ball — where the defenders were. A third miss came on a play that went for a first down but could have been more.
A second down play connected for 12-yards from Taylor to Jarvis Landry, but Callaway was streaking deep for a big play. Instead, Taylor hit Landry who had to make an athletic play for the first down. That summed up the offense with Taylor as everyone had to work hard just to make up for his shortcomings.
The irony of it all is that while Hue did all he could to hold Mayfield back, it could be Mayfield who saves his job. This absolutely should not save Jackson’s job, if anything it proves he’s responsible for much of the frustration the past two years. There’s no way Mayfield wasn’t showing his skill in practice and yet Jackson was defiant about playing him despite the struggles of Taylor.
Next. Baker Mayfield takes over, leads to victory. dark
Jackson was content to let the kicker take the blame and not address the fact that Taylor was holding them back.